Illiteracy is the inability to read or write simple sentences in any language. Functional illiteracy is a term used to describe reading and writing skills that are inadequate to cope with the demands of everyday life. A functionally illiterate person can read and possibly write simple sentences with a limited vocabulary, but cannot read or write well enough to deal with the everyday requirements of life in his own society. For example, an illiterate person may not understand the written words “cat” or “dog”, and may not recognize alphabet letters. A functionally illiterate person may well understand these words and more, but cannot read well enough to understand the things he must read in order to get by in his daily life, such as job advertisements, past-due notices, newspaper articles, complex signs, and posters. While pure illiteracy has approximately the same characteristics worldwide, the characteristics of functional illiteracy vary from one culture to another, as some cultures require better reading and writing skills than others.